The Almost True Adventures of Brandon and Josh: True Adventure Series, #1

By Barry. M. Fellinger

WHEN JOSH GETS KIDNAPPED BY ALIENS because he refuses to eat his broccoli, he and his cousin Brandon end up having a hilarious outer-space adventure. The two eleven-year-old boys must face down the Intergalactic Council, rescue an alien who starts a flood every time she cries, fly an air sled, travel through time, and deal with a talking broccoli plant that might even eat them!

 

Whether you like broccoli or not, you will definitely want to find out what happens, and after reading this you may even find you eat your vegetables all the time!

But the fun doesn't end there. Brandon says, "I can't wait until our next adventure to see how we rescue our cousin Adam!"

 

While Josh says, "I hope we don't have to go back up there to rescue Adam. Those aliens give me the creeps!"

They'll find out in the next book, so look for "The Not So True Adventures of Brandon, Josh and Adam," available now!!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barry's Books
• Release date: Aug 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223735380

Book preview

The Almost True Adventures of Brandon and Josh

Barry M. Fellinger

Illustrated by Sonia Facchin-Brulé

The Almost True Adventures of Brandon and Josh Copyright © 2022 by Barry M. Fellinger

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-7825-4 (Paperback)

This book is lovingly dedicated to the memory of my father-in-law, Ken Cudmore, who always believed the best of all his grandchildren and provided them with a rich heritage of faith, morals and values, and the determination to succeed and overcome what ever challenges and obstacles life brings their way.

Also dedicated to my loving wife, Beth, and daughter Brittany, my family and extended family and all of Brandon’s and Josh’s friends whose continued encouragement and support has helped me see this project to completion.

And, of course, last but definitely not least, dedicated to Brandon and Josh, whose real life adventures have continued over the years and provided inspiration for so many more stories yet to be told. (At least, the ones they will let me tell!)

Thanks, everyone, and God bless.

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Chapter One

Josh was nervous. He tried to stand still but kept shuffling his feet. His cousin, Brandon, stood beside him.

This is all your fault, Josh. If you would have eaten your broccoli, this never would have happened, Brandon whispered to him.

Silence! said a loud, booming voice.

Brandon and Josh both jumped slightly and looked up.

This hearing of the Intergalactic Council on Obedience to Parents is now in session, said the loud voice. The voice belonged to a strange-looking creature with large green antennas coming out of its forehead, a huge nose, and blue ears that flopped up and down when he spoke.

Josh and Brandon would have laughed, but they did not want to get themselves into any more trouble than they were already. They stood in the center of a large room underneath a big spotlight. In front of them was a table where the Council sat. The Council was made up of aliens of all different shapes and colours. But the two cousins were still too much in shock to really notice much of their surroundings.

You, Josh of the humans, are accused of not eating your broccoli, continued a voice they thought must be the leader of the Council. How do you plead?

But I don’t like broccoli, said Josh, with frustration.

Silence! said another one of the Council members, this time with a female voice.

Shut up, Josh, and just agree with whatever they say, Brandon whispered again to his cousin.

You shut up, Brandon. Don’t tell me what to do! Josh was not whispering.

Well, you got us into this mess, replied Brandon.

The two of them started pushing one another. Although Brandon was a few inches shorter than Josh, he was just mad enough and scared enough to hurt him. But Josh weighed more, and figured he was going to give it to Brandon once and for all. They were both so busy arguing and pushing each other, they forgot where they were until they heard a loud bell ringing and that raspy voice shouting, Enough! Silence! You did not eat your broccoli, young man. And you argued with your Aunt Beth about eating it. That is why she sent you to your room! We have been observing you earthlings for some time now. You do not listen to your parents or your elders. This is unacceptable and must be corrected.

Wait a minute, Brandon spoke up. I ate my broccoli! Why am I here? I always eat my broccoli ’cause I put cheese sauce on it.

You’d have thought Brandon had said the sky was not blue. The reaction of the Council was so loud and painful, with shouts of Noo-o-o! and Oh dear! Oh dear! and Blasphemy! and a whole bunch of other big words neither cousin could understand, that Josh and Brandon had to cover their ears until the noise died down. Whatever Brandon said had really upset everyone in the room. Even the guards, just outside the spotlight where the two cousins were standing, were covering their mouths or holding their stomachs.

Now you’ve done it! Josh yelled at him.

Done what? What did I do? asked Brandon innocently.

Finally, the leader of the Council found his voice again and shouted, Awful, awful children. Hideous! To cover our precious broccoli with such fungus! Auugh! Well, enough! This does not even have to be debated. Both of you are sentenced to the mining colony on Delta Four for the next four years.

Four years! Josh shouted back. You can’t do that! Why, we’ll be teenagers by then!

Exactly! said the female voice on the Council. Maybe by that time you will know how to eat what you are told to!

Guards, take them to the transport ship!

Brandon and Josh looked at each other in horror. This was no joke any more. These aliens, whoever they were, were serious. It was time for a plan, and really soon.

Josh and Brandon were trying very hard not to cry as the guards took them out of the Council room and into a long hallway. But every now and then each heard the other sniffle as they tried to fight back the tears filling their eyes. There was a guard ahead of Brandon and one behind him.

Josh was behind that guard so they could not even talk to each other. Another guard walked behind Josh. The guards were covered in some kind of green armour and wore helmets that covered their whole heads. Brandon figured that was probably a good thing. He was not sure he wanted to see what they looked like under those helmets.

Now and then, Brandon would try to sneak a look back to make sure Josh and his guard were still following behind. He desperately hoped neither of them would be separated and that at least they would end up on the same transport ship to wherever it was they were being sent.

Josh knew Brandon was looking back once in a while and tried to force a smile to let his cousin know he was alright. He thought back to what had happened to bring them to this strange place. Brandon’s mom, Josh’s Aunt Beth, was looking after Josh while the rest of his family was out of town for the weekend. Josh had decided it would be more fun to stay with Brandon than to have to spend it at a motel being looked after by three older sisters while his mom and dad went to conference meetings.

Josh and Brandon had been born about five weeks apart. It seemed like they had been buddies right from the start. The now eleven-year-old boys shared many of the same likes and dislikes and interests. Now, though, Josh was wishing he had decided to put up with his sisters instead.

The weekend had started out great. It was a nice warm spring day. He and Brandon played baseball, basketball and road hockey with some of the kids on Brandon’s street right up to suppertime. At supper, however, things started to go sour. Aunt Beth had made broccoli with cheese